[klickitat jim]

I'm daydreaming of a trip. Has anyong done a Viking River Cruise? What im looking for is sight seeing with lots of classic beer readily available. Viking seems to talk a lot about wine with little mention of beer. I sure like the idea of just stepping off the boat, seeing what I need to see and sampling some beer, then get back on the boat. Next stop...

If you have experience with Belgium/Germany beer trips, and could only go once and could only go for 7-10 days, what would you suggest? Keep in mind that sights are probably just as important as the beer, breweries aren't necessary though one or two would be awesome, and I'd pick history over shopping any day.

[Thirsty_Monk]

I have seen the ships when I was in Reingensburg. I am cheep. I was traveling by car thou. They look quite fancy.

[klickitat jim]

Ya they are about $250 per day per person not counting airfare. Pipe dream

[hopfenundmalz]

You could hit Koeln, Duesseldrof, Bamberg, and Regensberg on one of those. It doesn't look appealing to me.

[Stevie]

From a quality standpoint, I understand that viking is one of the top cruise options. I believe they have one of the highest crew:guest ratios.

[klickitat jim]

I think a Viking river cruise for two of us, with airfare, and maybe a couple t shirts would be a $10k week. That's not happening.

How about the beertrips.com guy? Have any of you gone with him? Seems speedy too but at least he hauls you to breweries every day.

[homoeccentricus]

Skip Germany. They don't have Belgian beer there.

[homoeccentricus]

How about the beertrips.com guy?

$2895 for 10 days in Belgium without the flight, that's a lot of money. Just hop on a plane and come to Belgium. OK, this requires some more preparation, but you'll see enough interesting stuff. Plus, for chrissake, Belgium is not Antarctica. You do not need to be a penguin to survive and enjoy.

[klickitat jim]

I lived in japan for 2 years, off base, owned a car and everything. Spoke no Japanese. Got along just fine. So you're most likely right that I wouldn't die without a tour guide.

[klickitat jim]

How well does that Eurail system work? Looks like two adults traveling together could do Germany Luxembourg Belgium france and Ireland for about $900

[Stevie]

How well does that Eurail system work? Looks like two adults traveling together could do Germany Luxembourg Belgium france and Ireland for about $900

Rail in Europe is great, but it does come with its cons. Primarily time compared to a bargain airline.

[klickitat jim]

How well does that Eurail system work? Looks like two adults traveling together could do Germany Luxembourg Belgium france and Ireland for about $900

Rail in Europe is great, but it does come with its cons. Primarily time compared to a bargain airline.

True, but you can see the country from the train, right? Probably the best would be a rental car and hire a designated driver. I guess they call those taxis.

[hopfenundmalz]

How well does that Eurail system work? Looks like two adults traveling together could do Germany Luxembourg Belgium france and Ireland for about $900

Rail in Europe is great, but it does come with its cons. Primarily time compared to a bargain airline.

The trains take you to the downtown station, where you want to be.

The discount airlines fly in and out of the farthest out airport with cheapest fees. Then you spend time and money getting downtown. The cheap airlines use Hahn airport for Frankfurt, Hahn is in the middle of no where with no public transportation.

That is why trains are still used in Europe for shorter travel, say Koeln to Munich. One would need to research the options.

Edit - to be clear I would fly from Rome to London.

The trains are great for shorter travel.

I would just target Belgium and Germany (maybe Czech Rep.) for a trip. Brussels to Koeln and Duesseldorf, then down to Munich (mostly high speed), Munich to Nuremburg (high speed), Nuremberg to Bamberg.

Edit 2 - we have bought German rail passes for travel in Germany only. Not so expensive.

[homoeccentricus]

How well does that Eurail system work? Looks like two adults traveling together could do Germany Luxembourg Belgium france and Ireland for about $900

You could try this formula: http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/select-pass -  4 adjacent countries (where Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg is one country).

Not sure how Ireland would fit in. In general I'd say it's not the best of countries to visit using public transportation...

[klickitat jim]

Its a few years out so lots of time to study up.